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0:00 [Music] Professor, it's also become a bit of a tongue twister : those who talk about people, events, ideas. Yes. Now, Professor, this is actually a beautiful thing. Of course, it's attributed to Socrates. Then there's Roosevelt, and many other things. Everyone interprets it differently, but I think it's a valuable statement. What does it say? Great minds, great minds, talk about ideas. Average minds, average minds, talk about events. Small minds, or small others, weak
0:50 people, talk about people. Now, we've added something to this. Of course, we want to add it. It's very valuable, too. The greatest minds, sir , talk about conversation, about metaphysics. Yes. Yes. They talk about metaphysics. Yes. So, what should we talk about now? They talk about reaching the level life of the heart and soul. Of course. They talk about the level life of the heart and soul. Because this needs to be analyzed a little. Professor, we live in such a world that, unfortunately, when we talk about people, it's highly respected . Gossip has a tremendous allure. This is clear in our programs. So, what can we say about our programs? And Dad
1:41 , it's only 6,000 or 7,000, but if we sit down and start gossiping right now, we'll get to 81. Yes. The house is correct. We'll get to 81. Now, of course, the essence of this is this, sir. Unfortunately, it must be said that. Talking about these people has a draining effect. In fact, as a pleasant aside, sir, in that story of Nasreddin Hodja, when he brings Indi, he says, "If the parrot talks like a real person, this one thinks like a real person." So, the idea that thought is more expensive actually has this incredible truth behind it, as you mentioned, underlying the irony . It's ironic. Yes. Now, in these environments facilitated by the internet,
2:27 it's not easy to escape this allure—the allure of how many people are watching us. Now, this allure, as listeners grow, people, in a sense, lose their freedom. It means a market has formed. You're speaking to the market. The market decides what you'll say, and the market decides your value. You can't decide your own worth. This has a draining effect on people, and unfortunately, from an Islamic perspective, isn't it something we readily accept or, let me tell you,
3:15 approve of? Part of the problem leads to backbiting. But unfortunately, people can't help it. Of course, when these people talk, they might enjoy looking at the numbers. They might say, "50,000 people have followed me ," but they don't see it. In other words, this inevitably draws people into gossip, so to speak. Professor, there's more to this. Can I share an anecdote here, Professor? Now, go ahead. Like many people with different opinions in Turkey, he's playing a different tune, saying different things . Someone who spoke at a different time, while making an assessment of the Hodja Effendi
4:03 , said something like this: when his friends leave, people start to gather around anyone, a hodja, a sheikh, an esteemed person, a saint, whatever. Once they gather, let's say there's a mosque, a courtyard, and then gradually a secret agreement develops between the two. He locks himself in on what the community desires. The congregation also locks the teacher in, and both parties leave with mutual satisfaction. So, if they want the teacher to shout and shout, if they want him to press on, the teacher will then press on accordingly, speak accordingly, and this bond will form. He says, "The only exception to this is the teacher." He says, "The teacher doesn't hold his own against those who follow him." Yes. That's true. That's true. Getting out of this impasse
4:54 isn't easy, teacher. Because it's truly tempting. Of course, there's a detrimental side to this, both sides. There's an unpleasant side. On the one hand, you're preoccupying people with gossip. That's a shame. And you're causing confusion. Well, you're eroding old loyalties, weakening them. First of all , there's a fundamental drawback for those listening . The second drawback is that the speaker can no longer escape this temptation. They have to find new gossip . That's also very bad. Just to keep those numbers going, What new can we say for it to continue?
5:44 It has to come up with sensational, beautiful, new sensational events. Of course, it's unaware of this. It deludes itself into thinking it's building power. On the contrary, it's an incredible loss. As the teacher put it, those who lose in the winning zone enter a vicious cycle. May God protect us. Amen. Amen. Now, of course, this is the case. The second is to talk about events. Of course, it's something more valuable than that. Talking about events. Why are you talking about events independent of people? And events actually tell you a lot about the course of events, but here too, as you said in the previous program, even in our first one, those who are influenced by events cannot influence events. We will talk about events.
6:34 We will know the process they originated from and how they continue. We will interpret events. Because interpreting those events is extremely important. But we will not be swayed by events. They should not be something we are drawn into. Now, for example, we experienced a fundamental test of this on July 15th. Now, seeing the issue solely in terms of events is an extraordinarily heavy matter. In other words, one is crushed under it. That is, one is crushed under those events. But to put it in parentheses, so to speak, and
7:22 look at it from the outside, to look at events with a contemplative perspective. So, all of this happened through the power, divine knowledge, and divine will of God Almighty. This means there are important events here that I don't know about, that I can't see . There are beautiful things. Now , when we interpret events this way , when we look at them from the outside , we are freed from their influence. We shift them to another level. What is this? This is the divine level. We are looking at what God Almighty has here.
8:08 There are many things we don't understand, things that seem incredibly detrimental to us right now, but that we can't resolve right now. That's how life is. In other words, we never resolve them. Life never progresses according to our expectations. Life never progresses consistently. Sometimes there are sharp turns, sharp declines. What we do during these sharp declines is crucial. Now, look, there's something I insist on saying about modern education being criticized. Modern education fixates us on success, it makes us believe in success. But failure never prepares us for failure. In other words, we need to prepare ourselves for failure as well.
8:55 Now, here's how things are. Talking about events. Now, there's also talking about ideas, sir. Perhaps this might be helpful in terms of a little complement . Now, of course, talking about events, reading the wisdom. Amen. And of course, sometimes there's this criticism, when you say things like this are due to age, you're talking about fate. Taking refuge in fate, that's how you look at events and ignoring responsibilities or trying to cover them up, is actually striking that balance here. Now, sir, of course, we don't say fate or anything like that. For example, the philosopher Karl Yasmers says exactly this. He says, "If," he says, "
9:40 if you concentrate your entire future on the world, you'll be crushed when the world collapses ." He doesn't say fate at all, look. He says, "If," he says , "if you offer your entire faith, your entire future, your allegiance, everything to the world, and invest it in it , but you don't control the world. One day , it will collapse on you." Then he says, "You'll be devastated." What are you going to do? You'll connect him to a transcendental, transcendent being who transcends the world. He says you won't be crushed when the world collapses. It's a magnificent thing , truly a magnificent thing. This man says nothing about destiny, nothing about this, nothing about that . Look, he's expressing a truth as a rational inference,
10:29 in a very fundamental way. He's uncovering something profound from this life experience. Now, of course, we live by our faith. So, why should we underestimate the power our faith gives us? Why shouldn't we use it? It never means avoiding this responsibility. Our responsibilities always continue. That's our whole point in studying life. We want to see our own role, our own responsibilities, and establish its connection to life. Now, what can we say about this? So, I mean, He will continue to do so by compensating
11:14 for that flaw, shortcoming, or defect of the past , by seeking forgiveness, repenting, or actually doing what he must. This doesn't mean that to him. Yes. There's a fine line there. Yes. Thank you, teacher. You expressed it very well. May God bless you. Now, the third point is that great minds speak ideas. How are we supposed to understand this speaking of ideas? We will understand it like this: Understanding the world. This is what the teacher insistently emphasizes . Catching up with the times. This is something that is sorely lacking in the Muslim community, so to speak . This is why the teacher repeatedly emphasizes: Catching up with the times, reading the world correctly. Let's go write it down. I mean,
12:05 how many times has the teacher said catching up with the times? How many times has he said reading the world correctly? Ideas, events that lead us to read the world correctly. For example, what does this mean? For example, how did this modern world come about? Right? What are the fundamental dynamics of the modern world? What are its principles? What are its institutions? How do these institutions come into being? How do they grow? How do they develop? What will our situation be like in this modern world? All of this—seeing our own situation, reading the course of events, analyzing the modern world, and forming an opinion about the future of humanity, the future of Islam
12:52 . The Hodja Effendi has this, in two programs, we discussed this in detail one program ago. He reads the course of events and makes a very fundamental prediction about the future. He analyzes a process, a process, and makes a very fundamental determination that this analysis will be at the end of the process . Now, of course, what does this make a person? It makes them intellectual. But there's a third point, and he doesn't mention Socrates. What is that? The metaphysical world. I mean, isn't it your heart, sir? The degree of looking at your life, or the convivial nature of conversation. Now, this
13:39 is something completely different. For example, isn't it Hodja Effendi? Look at his speeches. It's always this, I mean, he draws phrases and draws them. There's a little bit of the other. He writes about them more. He doesn't talk about them much. So, as a thinker, you see in Hoca Efendi's books, sir, erecting a statue of our soul, sir, in that book or in other books, sir, sir, but when he speaks, Hoca Efendi speaks as a wise man, a friend of God , and he insistently emphasizes this point. So, what is the fundamental principle of this? The fundamental principle is this: It is impossible to speak metaphysics without moral and spiritual perfection . Or let's put it the other way around. Tetüse
14:31 has a beautiful expression: "to know is to be se." In other words, he says, "knowing is salvation." In other words, you speak with such knowledge that there must be moral and spiritual perfection behind it. For example, when discussing ideas in philosophy, there is no such requirement. Yes , you can speak as you please. You don't have to be something. In other words, you have to have thought about this subject and considered it. But no one expects moral and spiritual quality from you. There is no such requirement anyway. For example, the discussion of science, of other things, fields of knowledge, and disciplines
15:17 is similar, but only metaphysical knowledge has such a requirement. In order to say anything in metaphysical knowledge, to convey meaning, the speaker must possess moral and spiritual qualities. Now, what does Ghazali say about this? He's talking about the drunkard's knowledge of drunkenness. Very interesting. In other words, the knowledge of drunkenness can never be known without being drunk. So, isn't it possible for a person to become intoxicated, sir? "What is drunkenness?" says Ghazali, "if he were to ask, read books, study the lives of those who have been drunk, and catalogue their behaviors ." But he would never know drunkenness. When would he know? Even when he was drunk.
16:06 Metaphysical knowledge is like that. Aren't these sublime souls, sir? They discuss metaphysical knowledge . I saw it in the foreword of a book by an author whose perspective on life would change dramatically from then on . He comes to America. He studies sociology. He's building quite an academic career. Someone who continues to worship says, "In my childhood, my mother and I used to read the Quran. My mother wasn't an educated woman, but we used to read the Quran. She used to read with great enthusiasm. I used to get very emotional, too." He says, " I never abandoned my worship throughout my life." In other words, I continued everything. I haven't severed my connection with the Quran. I studied sociology. I studied philosophy. I studied the sciences, but he says, "I looked, my thing with the Quran is clear, I
16:53 've lost that zest." I've lost that enthusiasm, that enthusiasm. I said, "I know more than my mother." I'm more knowledgeable, more advanced, but what happened? But later, he says, I made this decision. After storing all that knowledge in my reserve , when I began to look at events under the shadow of the Quran again, I rose as if teleported, and I began to look beyond events, above them, with a conical perspective. Then, he says, "All that knowledge brought tears to my eyes again, joy to my heart, and most importantly, all that prior knowledge, sociological knowledge, and philosophical knowledge have all been a source of completely new revitalization for me. Thank you, teacher. Yes, teacher, I'll see you again in the next program , God willing.
17:38 Have a good day, God willing ." [Music] In Turkey, the government, through the state institution responsible for religious affairs, has accused one of the country's most broad-based social movements of serious accusations, amounting to takfir , and published a report on the Hizmet Movement. A research team of theological experts at the Wise Institute examined and analyzed this report, published by the Directorate of Religious Affairs, from numerous perspectives. This analysis clearly demonstrated that the report in question is a biased text, filled with distorted information and empty accusations
18:25 . Furthermore, this report has exposed the painful story of the ongoing power-religion relationship in Turkey . An analysis of the Directorate's report on the Hizmet Movement can be found in Süreyya Kitap, a book on religion under state domination. Süreyya Kitap is available at www.sureyakitap.com. [Music]
